turnin: I've never had a weight issue as such, I have always been fairly active with sports etc but what snuck up on me was cholesterol. My doctor put me on statins ( aged 39 at the time), within 3 days I couldn't walk up a set of stairs, I had dizzy spells ,could not balance and my memory turned to mush.I quickly figured out it must be the Statins, the internet confirmed it too, but my doctor argued it could not be and to stick with them.I changed doctors as a result of that, my new doctor who can think outside the realm of writing prescriptions said "if you really want to reduce cholesterol, stop eating animal proteins"That's turned out to be the best advice I'd ever had, I became a vegetarian, stopped eating dairy and planted a vege garden. I had another test 3 months later, was well below the average.

It often depends on the statins. I had one kind prescribed and my short term memory went on holiday.

Swapped to another 12 months later on the advice of a specialist and hey presto, an improvement (my STM was buggered in 06 by 8.5 hours of open heart surgery on a perfusion machine so isn't likely to return to what it was pre-op).

As far as cholesterol goes, I get checked regularly and the nurse said of my most recent test that it was all 'perfect' and 'the best results I have seen in a patient in ages' so yay. It works.

I'd take barrow loads of pills before I'd stop eating meat. If god meant man to live on vegetables he would have made them taste like meat...!

I told my mother last night and got the "everyone knows skipping meals is bad for you" and "you should eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 large ones" speeches.

Maybe she is right, maybe she is wrong... who knows However last night I had a rather small and non normal meal - probably over the calorie count, but I actively avoided snacking and have managed to go 24 hours without a cola.

This morning I feel really hungry though they is probably a good thing... right? Question on white bread, rice and pasta - non reduced intake days it is still ok to eat?

Cutting out the daily coke and some days the more than daily coke will probably be the biggest solver of my problem

Well I can't say much on the 5:2 diet but can attest to trying to live a more healthier lifestyle.

We started a biggest loser competition at work and although the comp failed I surely didn't (would have won easily and I think that's why over half of them pulled out before half way with the rest deciding to can the comp not much later.

Started at a little over 113 kgs and got down to 84 at my lowest. This I did in 15 weeks. I stopped eating sugar, cut out chippies, chocolate and fizzy drinks (drunk too much coke and energy drinks). I also was exercising regularly. Started with a excercycle where I started with 5 kms per days and then done 10kms after 2 -3 weeks. I ended up joining a gym and went for a hour or two 2 - 5 weeks.

After the contest was canned I got demoralised a little and tried to eat me a cream bun tasted great but the sugar made me very ill.

I would recommend my way to anyone but it's not easy over the first couple of weeks but once you're used to not eating the sugar and junk food it comes naturally. Also ate mostly fruit during the day and had a normal meal (of slightly smaller size at nights). The reason there wasn't any calorie counting or a big change to household eating etc was simply that I couldn't be bothered. I still had spaghetti bolognaise, curries, pizzas, fish and chips etc just not large servings. I didn't see punishing the others in the house with my diet change.

I also attribute my success to weighing myself every day to keep in check weight fluctuations. It is about a healthy lifestyle choice it you don't maintain you are likely to add a decent proportion of the weight loss back on but not all of it.

At first I felt ripped off by the competition and losing out on the prize money but in the end it never really mattered as I looked and felt better than I had in years and really had won a lot more than money could buy.

Now I have set the goal for me going forward to never be over 100kg again and intend to keep it that way. I eat and drink pretty much whatever I want whenever and weigh around 90 - 95kgs. I basically am not exercising anymore with exception to the occasional walk but will likely start on the excercycle again just because I enjoyed a little excercise.

nzkiwiman: I told my mother last night and got the "everyone knows skipping meals is bad for you" and "you should eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 large ones" speeches.

Maybe she is right, maybe she is wrong... who knows However last night I had a rather small and non normal meal - probably over the calorie count, but I actively avoided snacking and have managed to go 24 hours without a cola.

This morning I feel really hungry though they is probably a good thing... right? Question on white bread, rice and pasta - non reduced intake days it is still ok to eat?

Cutting out the daily coke and some days the more than daily coke will probably be the biggest solver of my problem

"Six small meals" is a myth. Your metabolism doesn't slow down because you haven't eaten in three hours, and the boost you get from eating isn't huge. Watch the video (free) or read the book (cheap).

Small steps are good. Cutting out caffeine leads to headaches, it can take a few days to get over. Ibuprofen helps, and panadol. Keep taking small steps until you're leading a healthly lifestyle.

Bread, rice, and pasta are high calories, low protein, and I suggest you rarely if ever eat any of them. Having said that on my fast days I do have eggs on toast sometimes, and once a week I have a pasta dish. I would really suggest finding alternatives though, whole natural unprocessed foods, meats and vegetables. Nuts are very high in calories so suggest you avoid, fruit is very high in sugar so avoid that too - in moderation is ok.

jtbthatsme: <snip?Started at a little over 113 kgs and got down to 84 at my lowest. This I did in 15 weeks. I stopped eating sugar, cut out chippies, chocolate and fizzy drinks (drunk too much coke and energy drinks). I also was exercising regularly. Started with a excercycle where I started with 5 kms per days and then done 10kms after 2 -3 weeks. I ended up joining a gym and went for a hour or two 2 - 5 weeks.

<snip>

Now I have set the goal for me going forward to never be over 100kg again and intend to keep it that way. I eat and drink pretty much whatever I want whenever and weigh around 90 - 95kgs. I basically am not exercising anymore with exception to the occasional walk but will likely start on the excercycle again just because I enjoyed a little excercise.

Nice going! Sounds like you've given up a bit, become demoralised. If you hit 84kg then targeting 100kg max is still going to have you significantly overweight unless you're very tall and muscular. How about targeting 80kg, with 85kg being your "I should really lose a bit of weight"?

When I was on Aktins years ago I went from 100kg to 70kg in 3-5 months. I set my "you have to lose weight now" weight at 74kg, and managed to keep it off for many years, but it crept up in the past few years. I'm almost back to me "worst case" 74kg weight now, and aiming for 72kg I think.

nzkiwiman: [snip]Cutting out the daily coke and some days the more than daily coke will probably be the biggest solver of my problem

Coke Zero. I am going to ignore any hysteria about how unbelievably dangerous the ingredients are since they are able to be sold in the USA with the FDA and Lawyers piled 3 deep in many places looking for class action suits, and focus instead on how it tastes just fine, and calorifically is basically water.

I found that it still feels like a treat, or something substantial, yet diet wise, it's a glass of water.

nzkiwiman: [snip]Cutting out the daily coke and some days the more than daily coke will probably be the biggest solver of my problem

Coke Zero. I am going to ignore any hysteria about how unbelievably dangerous the ingredients are since they are able to be sold in the USA with the FDA and Lawyers piled 3 deep in many places looking for class action suits, and focus instead on how it tastes just fine, and calorifically is basically water.

I found that it still feels like a treat, or something substantial, yet diet wise, it's a glass of water.

Cheers- N

Noooo Diet Coke,

ever noticed if you have not had one for a while how incredibly sweet they taste?

MikeRetired IT Manager, Freelance money spenderThe views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

Being in pain does not necessarily ruin your life, it does however remind you that you are still alive.

nzkiwiman: I told my mother last night and got the "everyone knows skipping meals is bad for you" and "you should eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 large ones" speeches.

Maybe she is right, maybe she is wrong... who knows However last night I had a rather small and non normal meal - probably over the calorie count, but I actively avoided snacking and have managed to go 24 hours without a cola.

This morning I feel really hungry though they is probably a good thing... right? Question on white bread, rice and pasta - non reduced intake days it is still ok to eat?

Cutting out the daily coke and some days the more than daily coke will probably be the biggest solver of my problem

wasabi2k: The big question being - is this something you can do for the rest of your life?

If not - enjoy the loss now, but be ready to pack it all back on when you can't be arsed doing it any more.

Weight Loss is not rocket science. Exercise More, eat an appropriate amount of the right type of food. That means protein, veges and fruits.

This is precisely why I've avoided "diets" and I'm just making gradual, but permanent changes in my lifestyle, rather than stress myself out over calories and kilos. Swap sammies for salads. Walk to the shops instead of bus/drive. Stop reaching for the booze every night. The results are slow but once you notice you've dropped a belt-notch, it's easier to stay focused.

Sorry for the confuson certainly wasn't implying I want to be around the 100kg range when I said I'd never go back to that weight. No way never lol. For me at the moment I've lost my scales so aren't really able to keep that good track on keeping it down. This is why I wanna get back into some regular excercise so I don't creep up to a weight I'm not planning to be at.

Eat smaller portions, excercise and limit your sugars...really does work and after a few weeks it's not hard to maintain and for most who are well overweight for their height the weight will slowly (or quickly at first) just come off.

Congrats to anyone though that gets serious about weight loss as the gains are so worth every bit of effort you put into it.